Yes , spur-toed is also another description . The platanna gained " fame " for being used previously for testing to see whether a woman is pregnant or not . The frog would be injected or something with urine , and if it starts to lay eggs , then it means that the woman is pregnant

Tread softly , and let your departure not be spoiled by the damage of your arrival

joshilewis wrote:Earlier on in the thread, its mentioned that Roan Antelope is Bastergemsbok. I always thought it was a Witpens? (And hence a Sable being a Swartwitpens).

Josh , it is so called , because the roan antelope resembles a gemsbok - earlier settlers were of opinion that it was a cross between a gemsbok and another antelope , possible the sable . In the same manner we get the : rooi hartebees for tsesebbe , as well as a " baster hartbees " for the lighter coloured " lichtenstein's hartbees ". And interestingly , hartbees , comes from the fact that the face of the seems to be in the shape of a heart . Also a derivitive of the other afrikaans word : hert .

Last edited by okie on Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tread softly , and let your departure not be spoiled by the damage of your arrival

And then of course there is the water mongoose , that goes by the afrikaans name of " kommetjiesgatmuishond " . Directly translated : littledishholemousedog .Now that brings up all sorts of mindpictures . Maybe it lives in a hole shaped like a dish , or maybe it has a dish-shaped --s . You take your pick of that

Tread softly , and let your departure not be spoiled by the damage of your arrival

Josh you already mentioned some birdnames . Now consider the Kaapse Kapokvoel , directly translated : Cape Snowbird . This bird makes its nest from the white fluffy flower parts of a karoo plant , and which looks like snowflakes , hence Kapokvoel .But it is the english name for this bird which intrigues me , namely : " Cape penduline tit " , and this brings a vision of , well ... ........ hanging there , swinging in the breeze

Tread softly , and let your departure not be spoiled by the damage of your arrival

okie wrote:And then of course there is the water mongoose , that goes by the afrikaans name of " kommetjiesgatmuishond " . Directly translated : littledishholemousedog .Now that brings up all sorts of mindpictures . Maybe it lives in a hole shaped like a dish , or maybe it has a dish-shaped --s . You take your pick of that

okie wrote:Josh you already mentioned some birdnames . Now consider the Kaapse Kapokvoel , directly translated : Cape Snowbird . This bird makes its nest from the white fluffy flower parts of a karoo plant , and which looks like snowflakes , hence Kapokvoel .But it is the english name for this bird which intrigues me , namely : " Cape penduline tit " , and this brings a vision of , well ... ........ hanging there , swinging in the breeze

okie wrote:In the same manner we get the : rooi hartebees for tsesebbe , as well as a " baster hartbees " for the lighter coloured " lichtenstein's hartbees ". And interestingly , hartbees , comes from the fact that the face of the seems to be in the shape of a heart . Also a derivitive of the other afrikaans word : hert .